B5media VP of Community Shai Coggins (an uber cool person and budding photographer and artist) is on week two of her year-long Blog Community project.  This week, link love–52 WoC #2: Give The Gift of Link Lovin’ – ShaiCoggins.com.  You know linking to folks who are writing good stuff and you just want to give props to.  Actually linking to other bloggers is something that I try to drill into the heads of bloggers (new and old) at b5.

Link love isn’t just linking to the source of the story, it’s also linking to the people who are discussing it and linking to them.  Here’s the other part of it, if you want to build your community, link to people who are likely to link back to you.  The big sites get so many links in that it’s doubtful you’ll ever get their link love.  It’s us down-in-the-trenches bloggers, slogging away at this day after day.  People just like you and me.  Yeah if you link to me I will, generally, subscribe to you in my RSS reader.  Once I’m subscribed, you’re on my radar, and that’s the first step to getting a link.  Not that a link from me is all that much…

Part of the deal in Shai’s link love project is linking to the person who left the comment above you.  For me that was Jen Hill of Mythbuster Beauty.

Yeah now that I’m done with the obligatory link you’d think I’m done right?  You know me better than that!

I looked at Jen’s blog.  Yeah makeup and beauty tips aren’t really up my alley.  Okay I was given a pineapple-juice based exfoliant for men and I do use it once and a while (hmm my skin is feeling a little tight…), but that’s not what came to mind.  Photography.  That’s what struck me.  I know nothing about makeup for photography!  I doubt any woman in her right mind would let me apply makeup on them, but maybe I should read up on this a bit.  I love taking pictures and if I ever want to do semi-professional stuff (like portraits) it might be good to know some tips for the ladies.

Okay … I think I’ll pass Jen’s blog onto my female friends, they will probably get more out of it anyway.

Props and links given.  Job is done!